This invention relates to a kite in the shape of an aircraft, such as an airplane, and more particularly, aircraft kites in which assembly is made simple, storage and shipping is made simple, and flying is made simple.
Aircraft kites such as kites in the shape of airplanes, space craft, and fanciful flying animals have been made by others. However, there are substantial disadvantages to making aircraft kites that physically look like a true vintage Sopwith Camel and Fokker-era single winged, bi-winged, or tri-winged airplanes, with their rectangular-shaped wings. In order to maintain the wings"" shape in flight, previous approaches included lining both the leading and outer edges of the wing with spars made of rigid material such as wooden, plastic or metal rods or tubes. Another approach included extensive use of struts and braces.
These approaches are unsatisfactory because of the excessive number of parts required for assembly and the resulting difficulty of assembly. Since both the leading edge and outer edge are reinforced using a spar, the wing cannot be rolled up when being stored or shipped. Thus, once assembled, such a kite, with its numerous rigid struts and spars, would be vulnerable to being damaged during shipment, on the sale room floor, or when it is transported to the desired flight location. What is needed is a way to reduce the number of rigid parts and still ensure that the wing would maintain its rectangular shape in flight for maximum enjoyment of the kite. In particular, removal of the outer edge wing spar and as many fuselage rods and spars as possible is desirable for storage and shipping considerations.
Still another approach involved foregoing the rectangular shape and using a straight leading edge supported by a spar, but only a curved trailing edge so that in flight the wind force would be sufficient to maintain the shape of the wing. This is also unsatisfactory since the aforementioned vintage planes had rectangular wings. Kite wings that have curved trailing edges, therefore, do not appear like these vintage planes during flight.
Similarly, other aircraft kites such as fanciful space craft and animal kites have suffered from the need for an excessive number of rods, struts, and spars to maintain the unique shape during flight. What was needed was a method for minimizing the number of rods and struts so as to minimize the amount of space that is required to maximize the enjoyment of the operator when transporting, assembling, flying, and disassembling such a kite.
Additionally, the aforementioned aircraft kites generally have a degree of instability that is unpleasant and discouraging to novice and veteran kite fliers alike. What is needed is a method for increasing stability and performance of these kites in flight in order to improve the chances of a pleasant kite-flying experience by the operator under a large spectrum of wind conditions.
Also, most or all mono-winged, bi-winged, and tri-winged aircraft kites are limited to their particular configuration. What was needed was a way to allow the operator to choose the number of wings to attach to the kite depending on either the particular flight conditions or simply the particular flying experience desired by the operator on that day. Additionally, such wing modularization would reduce the costs of manufacturing such winged aircraft kites.
In one embodiment, the invention involves a kite in the shape of an aircraft, including forms such as an airplane, flying animals, cartoon figures, or other fanciful aircraft having one or more wings and an improved configuration and method for the assembling and disassembling the kite. The ease of assembly and disassembly is created by the extensive and repeated use of preformed connectors in the shape of a xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d, an xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x9d, a nose cone, or a four- or six-arm intersection, depending on the intended use of the connector.
Also due to the repeated use of these connectors as a stock item in the assembly of an aircraft kite, the number of wings attached to the kite can vary depending on the desires of the operator. That is, the second, third, fourth, and so on, wings may be connected by a series of struts and braces attached to one another through a number of these preformed connector members.
Additionally, in one embodiment, the shape of each wing is maintained in flight with a minimum of struts and spars by using one or more scoops or pockets fixed to the lift surfaces of the wings. During flight, the pockets catch air and thereby reduce fluttering of the wing and force the trailing edge of the wing back. Moreover, the pockets thereby effect the flight characteristics of the wing and greatly improve the stability and performance of the aircraft kite. As a result, the aircraft kite of the present invention has improved stability and performance with respect to earlier aircraft kite designs, and it utilizes less rigid parts making the kite easier to assemble, more convenient to store and ship, and less vulnerable to breakage in transit and during operation.
Stability and performance are further improved by using inflatable tail fin members. As with the wing pockets, the tail fin members catch air during flight through openings at or near the point where the tail fin member is connected to the fuselage portion of the kite. Whether the tail fin members catch air from within the fuselage (as a closed windsock) or from outside the fuselage, the tail fin members greatly add to the stability and flight characteristics of the kite and effect the angle of attack like a real airplane. The stability and performance characteristics are further improved by the use of twin keels connecting the kite to the kite string, providing a 3-point twin keel kite string harness connection.
One objective of this invention is to make an airplane kite having improved stability and performance, and reduce or eliminate independent wing oscillation, by using air scoop pockets in its one or more wings and alternatively in its tail fins. Stability and performance are also improved by utilizing one or more ram air openings for receiving air during flight in an otherwise closed airfoil-shaped fuselage. Another objective of this invention is to make an airplane kite that has a realistic appearance in flight, including having one or more wings that are rectangular. Yet another objective of this invention is to make an airplane kite that can be easily and efficiently manufactured employing relatively few parts, and thereby also easily assembled by even novice operators, disassembled, stored and transported. Another objective is to minimize the number of parts and thereby minimize the exposure to breakage during operation, transport, and storage.
Yet another objective of this invention is to make an airplane kite that may be assembled to have any number of wings still maintaining the ease of assemble and a minimum of manufacturing costs.
These and other objectives and goals will be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art upon the descriptions and disclosures made herein.